I am not sure if adult mealy bugs will crawl toward soli; they usually stay on plants. Mealy bugs will hatch in the soil and you could see tiny white(ish) larvae.

Could be some others, including 'beneficials' - but those should be in compost, not in the pots. (Example: young pill bugs are small and greyish and they would hide in soil.)

What kind of soil are your jades in? Are they outdoors or inside? Even if you can't take photo of bugs, can you post photo of the plants in question?

It's in a cactus and succulent mix with added perlite for better drainage, I have not repotted it recently either. It's always been inside since I got it over 4 months ago, and photos are attached. Thank you so much for the reply!

Maybe you are watering too much - or rather soil is somehow water-retaining. It may be, since C&S soil is sometimes not as well draining as advertised - it depends on ingredients used. Check the label on the bag to see what is in it. I see perlite, there should be lots of it (ppl using similar mix recommend min 50/50 mix - and even more coarse perlite could be used). Check in few days to see if it is drying up; easy way is to stick a bamboo skewer (or chopstick or even pencil) deep into pot, approx. 3/4 deep. Leave in for few min. If it comes out damp, soil is not drying up fast enough. Make sure that pot doesn't sit in a saucer with water after watering, and keep plant in as much sunlight as possible. Plant looks OK, but could be even more compact = leaves growing closer to each other. Good air circulation helps too.

If they are bugs like I suggested (could be many different ones), also make sure that there is no plant debris left to decompose - many bugs love to feed on that.

Looks like it is 'curly-leaf' jade?

Since I just watered it when I noticed the bugs, I'll isolate it from my other plants and let it dry out, like you recommended. I'll also clean up some of the older leaves in the top layer of the pot. I'll be sure to check for any more bugs on my other plants. It is a curly leaf jade, somewhat hard to find in my area. Thank you so much for the helpful reply by the way, I was scared I'd lose this plant just as it started to get new growth!

You could keep it outside if you have any outdoors space. It will do well in more light, but make sure you increase light exposure slowly, since plant can burn otherwise. Here are couple of mine - they are outside, for as long as temps allow. Bigger one was purchased rooted, smaller on right is from a cutting sent to me that have good roots now. It just rained, so they are wet. But as you can see, they are in very gritty mix (no soil, just grit, coarse perlite and very little turface), that drains fast. It has been raining (finally!) for past few days, and all plants are looking much better. Now, rain can stop for few days :)

Nice! hoping mine will look like that someday, I've had issues with underwatering recently so it lost some leaves. I don't have too much outdoor space as of now, but hopefully moving house soon to an area with a lot of land!

It seems with it being isolated for a few days and cleaning up the soil, the bug problem has stopped. I'll keep it away from my other plants for another week, but I'm glad this resolved itself without damage. Thanks again for your help!